Kansas Board Studies Sex Education Policy Shift

A proposed policy change in Kansas that would require parents to sign permission slips before their children can attend sex education classes is drawing fire from advocacy groups.

Current policy allows parents to opt their children out of those classes. Advocates say the state’s teenage-pregnancy rate has dropped since the measure was implemented in 1987.

But state board of education member John Bacon is proposing a policy requiring parents to opt in to sex education. Mr. Bacon told the The Kansas City Star that he wants parents to be informed so they can decide whether the class is appropriate.

Sarah London, a public-policy manager for Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri, said such a change could exclude, for instance, children from lower-income families, whose parents do not have the time to be deeply involved with their children’s education.

The board of education is expected to consider the policy change at a meeting Sept. 13.